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Jos Verstappen’s fears that the Red Bull team would ‘fall apart’ have been realised, with Gianpiero Lambiase the latest to depart.
It was confirmed last week that Lambiase will join McLaren, the reigning world champions, when his contract expires at the end of 2027 – or potentially earlier if an agreement is reached.
Of all the recent Red Bull departures, this one could have the biggest implications for Max Verstappen’s future. The Dutchman previously threatened to follow Lambiase out of Red Bull if he ever left.
Jos Verstappen doubts Max Verstappen will leave Red Bull because of Gianpiero Lambiase’s departure like he vowed in 2021 – Who do you think should replace GP?
Jos Verstappen saw Red Bull’s problems coming
Speaking shortly after Adrian Newey resigned in the spring of 2024, Verstappen expressed grave concern over the Red Bull exodus and what it meant for the ‘internal peace’ at Milton Keynes.
“The team is in danger of falling apart,” he said. “I was already afraid of that earlier this year. It is important for internal peace that the key figures remain on board. That is not the case now.”
Verstappen Sr had a tense relationship with Christian Horner, and that may be why he chose to exert external pressure. He won’t take any satisfaction from his prediction coming true, given the ramifications for his son’s career.
Are Red Bull’s days as a top F1 team coming to an end?
Influential aerodynamicist Rob Marshall had already left Red Bull before Newey, while the departures of Jonathan Wheatley (Audi) and Will Courtenay (McLaren) were announced in successive months later in 2024.
Red Bull sacked Horner last July and then parted company with Helmut Marko at the end of the year, but the regime change has not stemmed the brain drain. Chief designer Craig Skinner quit only weeks before the Lambiase news.
Further down the chain, several mechanics are believed to have left, while Verstappen has lost almost all of his core engineering team.
Laurent Mekies is building a new team at Red Bull
It’s worth remembering that, only four races ago, Verstappen came within points of winning the world championship. The team have struggled at the start of 2026, slipping into the midfield, but Laurent Mekies had repeatedly tried to play down expectations.
The team are confident of developing their way back to the front, even if their chassis is unexpectedly a bigger issue than their first in-house engine.
It’s still too early to definitively judge the impact of each exit. But the Red Bull dynasty of 2021-24 has, in a sense, fallen apart, as noted by AMuS.
The question now is whether Mekies can put together a new-look, title-contending operation, and whether Verstappen will give him the time to do so.
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